The Bayesian Design of Adaptive Clinical Trials

This paper presents a brief overview of the recent literature on adaptive design of clinical trials from a Bayesian perspective for statistically not so sophisticated readers. Adaptive designs are attracting a keen interest in several disciplines, from a theoretical viewpoint and also-potentially-from a practical one, and Bayesian adaptive designs, in particular, have raised high expectations in clinical trials. The main conceptual tools are highlighted here, with a mention of several trial designs proposed in the literature that use these methods, including some of the registered Bayesian adaptive trials to this date. This review aims at complementing the existing ones on this topic, pointing at further interesting reading material.

Automated summary

This paper provides a brief overview of recent literature on Bayesian adaptive designs in clinical trials, emphasizing the importance of adaptive designs across various disciplines and their applications in clinical trials. It highlights the main conceptual tools and mentions several trial designs proposed in the literature, including some registered Bayesian adaptive trials.